[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 207 (Friday, December 15, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING JUDGE DEBORAH MCDONALD

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 15, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge, Deborah McDonald.
  Judge McDonald grew up in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District, 
Fayette, Mississippi and graduated from Jefferson County High School. 
She is a mother to one adult son and is a faithful member of East Mount 
Olive MB Church in Lorman, Mississippi. She is a graduate of Alcorn 
State University, where she studied social science education. She 
earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of 
Law, where she served on the Moot Court Board.
  In 1991, Judge McDonald entered private law practice. Her private 
practice areas included civil rights, employment discrimination, 
consumer law, personal injury, product liability and family law. She 
did extensive work in voting rights litigation, including legislative 
redistricting.
  Judge McDonald served as Fayette Municipal Judge for 23 years. She 
was attorney for Jefferson County Hospital and Jefferson County Nursing 
Home for 24 years. She was an attorney for the city of Port Gibson for 
almost seven years and represented the Hazlehurst School District for 
three years.
  On November 27, 2018, Judge Deborah McDonald was elected and began 
her judicial term on January 7, 2019. Judge McDonald began her legal 
career as an attorney representing the poor at the former Southwest 
Mississippi Legal Services McComb. She worked for Legal Services for 
nine years, serving as a State Attorney, Managing Attorney and 
Executive Director.
   Judge McDonald has been admitted to practice before all State and 
Federal courts of Mississippi and the U.S. Supreme Court. She was 
recently honored with the Pathfinder Award on October 26, 2023, in 
Jackson, Mississippi.
   Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing a 
trailblazer, Judge Deborah McDonald.

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